Page 16 of Unrivaled
I was already unravelling the scroll from the tube.“Of course,” I agreed.“Thanking you.”The crest caught my eye immediately.I froze, my eyes on that crest.
It was mine.
It was his.
It was all his.
It’s all yours.But the idea was a whisper, not a roar.I was stuck, my fingers locked in place.Nottotallystuck, of course.If I’d needed to move I could, surely.If only I tried harder.The staccato sound of his bootheels on stone sounded in my head.My heart raced and my attention tried to narrow, but I breathed deeply.He’s not here.But his words were.They were in my hand.
The clockwork tube trembled.
“Let’s go get Isolde,” Chay suggested.
It was such a jarringly normal idea that I was able to pull my eyes from my father’s sigil stamped on the spelled paper.“Yes,” I breathed.Isolde would know what to do.
But it was already mostly open in my hands.I let my gaze dip back down to the words.
It had been written by him.Not just his words, but his words in his hand.
My heart was racing.The letters had been printed neatly.They were cut a little too firmly into the parchment, the way he always did.Surely, he had a scribe to do the work.Why hadhesent me a message?
“Before the snows,” Chay breathed.“We’ve a year, Audrey.”
I looked up, the world swimming around me.“What?”
The blue of his eyes was all I could see.I felt like I was falling.
My father was returning.
One year.
Only a year.
“Let’s go get Isolde,” he repeated.This time, he curled his hand protectively around mine, helping me carry the threat of the future.
CHAPTERSEVEN
AUDREY
With all due respect, High Magelord, I am kept busy every moment of every day and a lot of moments in my night time, too, just with the running of the Academy.Our Pureshields are constantly on the lookout for anything, but the list of people who know how to harvest Glow is very short.I’ve been unable to definitively identify any one of the mages I suspect.—First Guidelord, Luis to High Magelord, Bearer of All, Gautier the First
14thDay of Winter’s Wife Moon,
Age of the Locways, Year 271
La’Angi Keep
This time, I heard Thomas’ steps coming up my tower long before he reached us.Isolde wiped the sweat from her face and passed Chay some water.I felt like I’d been up all night drinking.
I hadn’t.It had been hours since I’d learned.
I had one.
Year.
Only one.
Thomas’ expression didn’t soften when he found me waiting for him.He bowed, same as ever, and offered me another tube.“It’s good that information is flowing now, my lady,” he said gruffly.
